Allow merchants to disable automatic split shipments for mixed inventory orders

Product Development & Sourcing
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Topic summary

Request to give merchants control to prevent automatic split shipments on orders that mix in‑stock with pre‑order/backorder items. Current behavior auto-splits into “Ships now” and “Ships later” with no merchant override.

Key pain points:

  • Cost burden: Small merchants can’t afford multiple shipping charges per order without negotiated carrier rates.
  • Customer expectations: Many shoppers prefer a single shipment; nearly 50% of customers charged for split shipping email to request one shipment and a refund, creating service overhead.
  • Sustainability: More packages increase materials used and carbon footprint.
  • Operational complexity: Split shipments complicate fulfillment, especially with 3PLs and tools like ShipStation, risking premature shipments.

Proposed solution: Add a setting (Checkout or Shipping) to choose either auto-split (default) or keep orders together and fulfill when all items are available.

Intended impact: Lower costs, simpler ops, and greener fulfillment for SMBs handling pre-orders or made-to-order items.

Status/outcome: Feature request; no resolution yet.

Summarized with AI on December 16. AI used: gpt-5.
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Description:

I’m requesting an option to disable automatic order splitting when customers purchase both in-stock and pre-order/backorder items together.

Current behavior: When a customer orders in-stock items alongside pre-order items, Shopify automatically splits the order into separate shipments (“Ships now” / “Ships later”). This happens without merchant control.

Why this is problematic for small merchants:

  1. Cost burden

    • Small businesses cannot absorb the cost of multiple shipments per order. Unlike Amazon, we don’t have negotiated carrier rates or the margins to support split shipping.

  2. Customer expectations

    • Our customers understand they’re shopping with an independent business and are happy to wait for complete orders. They don’t expect Amazon-style logistics. A significant proportion of our customers - almost 50% - who are charged for split shipping consequently email us requesting a single shipment and refund of one of the shipping costs. This creates unnecessary customer service overhead and frustration on both sides.

  3. Sustainability

    • Multiple shipments mean more packaging materials and increased carbon footprint, which conflicts with many merchants’ sustainability commitments.

  4. Operational complexity

    • Split shipments create fulfillment complications, especially for merchants using 3PLs or apps like ShipStation that need special workarounds to prevent premature shipping.

Requested solution: Add a setting (in Settings > Checkout or Settings > Shipping) that allows merchants to choose:

  • ☐ Automatically split orders with mixed inventory availability (current default)

  • ☐ Keep orders together and fulfill when all items are available

This gives merchants control over their fulfillment strategy while maintaining the current default for those who want it.

Impact: This would significantly improve operations for small-to-medium merchants managing pre-orders, made-to-order items, or seasonal inventory without forcing enterprise-level shipping logistics on us.

Thank you for considering this feature request.

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@Hunnyboots are there any custom apps you can use to halt fulfillment until the other item is available (the pre-ordered item). I don’t know much about how split shipments work but the 1st thing that came to my head is using draft orders.